Monday, 24 Jun 2013 12:59 GMT

Xerox promises unparalleled wide-format speed

Xerox will launch a wide-format printer that has the potential to disrupt the market, offering unparalleled quality and output at FESPA 2013

The digital print manufacturer claims that the IJP 2000 will print 1m-wide at 1600 x 1600 dpi at speeds of 420 sq/m, with no trade-off between speed and quality.

“This has the ability to change the dynamics of the market and take wide-format from a technology where customers had to wait on delivery to almost a just in time environment,” says Dustin Graupmann, vice-president, inkjet products business team on a conference call with journalists last week.

He adds: “With the average run length of 36 prints, technologies with a similar image quality will take five hours to do what the IJP can do in five minutes

While Xerox believe that some customers will be able to move towards a print-on-demand model, they say that the machine is first and foremost a traditional wide-format printer with 'breakthrough speed and efficiency.'

While Xerox claims it is the fastest out there, Memjet are able to offer something approaching the speeds and quality. It also says it has tested on a broad range of media including vinyl, gloss, matte coated, offset paper, and even backlit film. Additionally, early installs are adding to that range all the time.

Graupmann states: “POD is not a model historically associated with wide-format but it is our belief that some of that is because the machine just didn't have the throughput to support that. 60 percent of businesses want their orders in less than two days. We do believe this machine will give customers the ability to supply just in time requirements.”

The technology uses multiple printheads across the web to achieve the speeds in a single pass, topping out at 30ft prints in just a minute. The firm says it has been able to utilise its expertise in the continuous feed inkjet market to offer this quality that is not dependent on speed, media or area coverage.

The firm also says that companies will need to utilise the machine for 45 minutes to see an ROI, although at these speeds that is still a lot of work for a sector that is becoming more pressurised.

“Customers will need to produce between 2,000 and 5,000 sq/m a month; it won't require full utilisation to get that return. It really is a fairly small amount of time but there will be plenty of available capacity to grow their business and improve that return on investment,” says Graupmann.

The machine has a list price of €115,000 (£98,000) and the first machines will be available from July.
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